Here’s Why Netflix Wants to Expand into Video Games

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There’s still a good deal of momentum with gaming stocks.

As we noted on May 21, “Use any weakness in video game stocks as an opportunity.  Activision Blizzard (ATVI), Take-Two (TTWO), and Electronic Arts (EA), Roblox (RBLX) just to name a few.  All with video games showing no signs of cooling.”

Helping, the world of gaming has never been as exciting as it is right now.

After a record setting year, the NPD Group says gamers just spent another record $5.61 billion in March – an 18% jump from $4.75 billion year over year.  Even better, four months into 2021, video game sales are up to $19.6 billion, which is 21% higher than the first four months of 2020, says the NPD Group, as reported by Venture Beat.

Helping even more, Jefferies’ analyst Andrew Uerkwitz just upgraded TTWO to a buy from a hold rating with a target of $231 from $185.

There is “an abundance of opportunity to significantly grow net bookings and earnings” in the coming years with the company planning to launch dozens of titles in the coming years, Uerkwitz said, as quoted by Investing.com. “If you let your imagination run wild, the estimates could get silly pretty quickly. We keep our estimates the same for now, which are based on just a portion of the incoming titles.”

At the moment, TTWO trades at $180 a share.

With video game sales showing no signs of slowing, this may be one of the best sectors to invest in for 2021.  It’s so hot, even Netflix may be looking to expand into video games, according to The Information.

“In recent weeks, Netflix has approached veteran game industry executives about joining the company, the people said. While the company has already dabbled in games—for example, it created a game based on ‘Stranger Things’ with an outside developer—it is looking at boosting its investments in the category,” they added.